Reconciliation
by M. Castor
Summary: It's the heat of intense battle-insane Risa and freaked out Knuckles are at it. Knuckles has to find the key to ending this battle without losing his life, or Risa's. Read after AHBOR
1. Chapter 1

**The conclusion to Risa's loss of sanity is here. Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>I dodge her next move, which causes the island to tremble. Risa lunges at me, swiping her strange sword at me relentlessly and leaving me on the defense. I try to land a hit on her but she flies over my head and lands at the top of a tree.<p>

"Running away are we?" I taunt. She raises the sword to the sky and a streak of lightening nearly zaps me. More lightning bolts crash down upon Angel Island, forcing me to retreat. I had no idea she was capable of doing any of this!

"'Running away are we?'" she mocks in her deadpan tone. I growl as I lunge at her and attempt a mid-air punch.

"I ain't running away!"

She swiftly dodges it and kicks my back. Although she didn't move that fast, it felt as if a boulder smashed into me. I regain my balance, use a tree branch as leverage, and try a much stronger punch. Again, she jumps out of the way and raises her sword again. This time, it's engulfed in blue flames.

"Wha?" I exclaim as she charges at me with her charged up sword. As I jump back, the sword slams into the ground and creates another jolting quake. Ok, I can't just dodge all her attacks and let her have an opening-I gotta go full force.

"Raaaah!" I send her a flurry of punches which she dodges with swift movements. Just when I think I can't land anything, two solid punches jab her in her chest and sends her flying into a tree. Risa collapses on the ground with sword still in her hand and on her knees. She's not moving, did that do the trick?

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><p>I cannot fight him any longer- I have used too much of my strength. Just let me rest.<p>

"_Hate him for depleting your powers. Do not grow weak like Father."_

"I am not like Father," I whisper as I open my eyes and rise to my feet. "Hatred and rage _is _me."

Lightning bolts rain down on the island as decayed leaves swirl around my body. In my free hand, a giant boulder begins to form.

"Risa, stop!"

"I refuse to listen to any more of your orders Father." My left arm burns with intense passion, thus letting the semi-formed boulder drop. "I hate you. You did this to me."

"Grr, I didn't do anything-!"

When the boulder is complete, I telepathically raise it and throw it directly at Knuckles. As it flies towards him, I leap onto it, waiting for it to run over his small, red body. He runs further back into the island and we are in the area where I had first found this hate-filled sword. With agility, he finds a demolished pillar to climb up on, avoiding the boulder. I U-turn the boulder and essay a ram into him. He jumps from the pillar and aims his fist right at my head, too fast for me to deflect. Then I realize that he did not hit my head, he knocked the sword out of my hand and took it. I leap off the boulder and fall on top of him. Furiously, we roll around trying to severely harm each other, wrestling for the sword.

There it is-his unwavering hatred for me. I can detect it so easily; it is as if he wears it on his face like a mask.

The powerful sword returns to my hand in a black mist and glows in a crimson light.

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><p>Even though her face is hidden by her hood, I can see her anger and rage seeping from her eyes. She leaps back onto the boulder and restarts its movement-I swiftly catch the boulder with a loud grunt. I'm strong enough to hold it back, I know I am.<p>

"Take this!" I punch the boulder in to a gazillion pieces, leaving Risa to fall to her feet. As soon as she lands, we're throwing all we got at each other. Not once did this girl train while on Angel Island or show off any of these special powers-when did she become so-

Strong?

"I don't get it," I skip back to give myself enough time to talk. I normally never "talk" in the middle of a fight but this is a different circumstance. "Why are we fighting?"

"Hatred and blood," she answers dryly as she approaches me menacingly. The leaves swirling around fly at me, slashing at my face and chest. I manage to dodge roll a few of them but one of them scrapes my cheek. Shit, I gotta finish this fight while I have the chance.

"Hate…me," snarls Risa.

I stand agape as the broken tiles around her dissolve in her surge of newfound energy. Her sword grows longer and a tornado of leaves encircle her feet. Red lightening swallows her legs and arms, strengthening her more.

"I'm not done!"

'

She pins me against a pillar, holding me by the neck. Risa exhales heavily, obviously tired from the power she's exerting. I desperately try to pry her hands from my neck but her power holds me in place.

"What happened to-you?" I manage to ask. Risa suddenly howls in some sort of pain, dropping me to the ground and holding her head. I quickly block her sudden sword swipe and hold her sword in place; with the one chance I have, I spin her around and think about throwing her off the island. Instead, I throw her and the sword into the lake.

I can't keep fighting like this-every time she gets exhausted, she gets faster and much stronger. God, when will this end?

A pillar of water rises out from the lake, draining it of any water. On top of the pillar is Risa, riding it like a spiral wave. As if surfing an actually wave, she drifts toward me while targeting the sword's tip to me. Crimson light blasts from its tip, which I just happened to dodge.

"All I can do is hate!" Risa screams as the drifting, floating lake turns a thin snake. Something clicks in my head-all she keeps talking about is hate and her father.

"Enough already!" I angrily shout.

"You are Father-"

"_No I'm not!"_

The snake-shaped water drops off to its original setting, dropping its master too. She lands on her hands and knees, still not letting go of the sword.

"What'd I ever do to you?"

In a rush, she runs towards me and we're back to blocking and attacking again. Her power is draining again, there's no way I can let her regain her power back. If my own fists won't work, then I'll have to talk some sense in to her.

"What did I do? I let you stay here and this is how you repay me?"

"You have hated me," she continues brandishing the sword. "Ever since I came here, you wanted me gone. You like your solitude. You hate me being here."

"I can't deny that!" I send a punch to send her back a few feet, buying me more time. "I _did_ like being alone here. That's how it's always been."

Saying this is going to be so weird, but I'm gonna die if I don't. I hesitate as she lunges at me with her sword engulfed in lightning again.

"You hate-!"

"I-I _don't_ hate you!" I close my eyes and raise my hands in front of my scraped face. "You're a friend!"

I wait for the finishing blow, but it never comes. When I uncover my eyes, Risa's in the middle of an attack but is petrified in place.

"A friend?" she asks suspiciously. "You have never treated me like 'a friend'."

"I'm…ugh-guh, _not the social type_. As you can see."

Risa lowers the sword and drops to her knees in agony. "I have nothing but hate. I am hate. Without…without-"she struggles as much as I did uttering the word. "Friends."

"Well why do you think I never threw you off the island?" I ask as she shakes violently on the ground.

In the midst of her shaking, she throws the red sword into the used-to-be lake behind me. She exhales sharply and deeply and sits up calmly.

"Knuckles, I-"

Out of nowhere, the red sword barely misses me and zooms, with "sonic speed", towards Risa's chest.


	2. Chapter 2

"What-the…"

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><p>I catch the demonic red sword at its tip as it tries to plunge itself into my heart. How is it doing this without a master? I am not controlling it anymore?<p>

_"Father tried to hurt Clancy. Kill him. Knuckles tried to hurt you. Kill him."_

"It was- ngh, my fault."

"_It's your fault Clancy is gone. He hates you now."_

"Everybody hates me."

"Fight it Risa, come on!" Knuckles shouts fiercely, yet in an encouraging manner. I am still locked in place, with the sword almost touching my chest. A memory of Clancy floods my mind.

"_Why can't I beat you at any race? It's not fair!" he cried out, stomping his feet._

"_Practice makes perfect Clancy," I replied. _

"_Since we're friends and all, why don't you let me win just once? Please?"_

"_No."_

"_Please, please, please?"_

"_On your mark, get set, go."_

_We were both off._

"I can for-"

Before I can say the word, a painful memory interrupts my flashback. The shiny red color of the sword starts dissipating, revealing traces of its true color.

"_Father, I did it. I climbed the tallest tree in the village."_

"_Risa, what are you going to do with that? Will climbing a tree make you the most powerful warrior in the village? Will it?"_

"_No," I replied sadly._

"_You know where the brown bears roam don't you?" he whispered in my ear. "Kill two of them and bring their bodies back here as proof."_

"I _will never forgive_ what my Father has done to me. This anger will do nothing to him or Clancy. It is time to move on."

"_You cannot! Hold on to your animosity. Destroy your-"_

"Do not order me around!" I cry out, still holding back the sword. Finally, the half-crimson periwinkle sword sits on top of my lap. With a sigh of relief, I drop my head onto the rough, patchy grass, finally at peace. Yes, I still detest Father and every heartless, cruel act he has done to me. I cannot ever love him, but I can make sure that I do not end walking the same tarnished path he is walking.

Black mist escapes from the sword and it is completely periwinkle yet again. I want to get up but I am so tired. Something white and cold onto my nose.

"Sorry," I faintly whisper as my eyes begin to shut.

'

My eyes open to a blanket of white. I stretch my arms and legs as get on my two feet. The Master Emerald acts as my crutch as I look around at the white covering the island.

"I see you're up," Knuckles says at the bottom of the altar steps. I walk to the top step and see him earnestly staring at me. "You've been asleep for two days."

"That is-"

At the bottom step, the periwinkle sword reposes by Knuckles feet. I reach out to it and Knuckles' body tenses up. It disappears from the bottom step in a flash of light and is in my hand in a second.

"Risa…"

"I do not have those negative feelings anymore. Do not worry," the sword vanishes from my hand as I make my descent down the steps. "I want to apologize for the way I have acted."

"You should, you turned fricken' crazy on me out of nowhere. Why?" he asks sharply. So much for being "his friend".

"I cannot tell you."

"Tell me, come on. After all I've been through-"

"I am scared to say it." I lean against one of the stone pillars, watching the snow descend from the ashy sky. "I have an idea of why this happened, but I do not want to face it."

His earnest expression turns in to a frown. "Fine, I don't wanna force you."

"I felt hatred and anger towards my father for not caring for me. I hated him because he made me the person I am today. I felt hatred towards you because…I thought you hated me the way I hate Father-and I hated myself for letting my other friend disappear. My overwhelming feelings of hatred transferred to the sword and controlled me."

Strange, I would talk like this exclusively to Clancy. "Did I severely hurt you?"

"Nah just scratches and bumps. You could never really hurt me that bad," fibs Knuckles while rubbing his fists. "I never knew you could fight like that-I mean, I'm not saying I was scared or anything -but you were doing some weird stuff."

"I vaguely remember."

"How did you do that?"

"I honestly do not know. I do not _want_ to know either."

"Why not?"

"That power should not be tapped again, it is way too dangerous for me and this world. I realized while fighting you, the Master Emerald kept draining out my negative power."

"Huh," he looks back at the giant Emerald impressively and walks into the accumulating snow. "I train when I really start to lose control."

"I do not know how-" I start until I raise my hand to block a snowball. He stands with another snowball in his hand, ready to throw at a moment's notice.

"I gotta get my _revenge _on you."

"Hm, I see," I get off the pillar, close my eyes, and put my hand over the snow. Interesting.

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><p>"What're you doing?" I ask, dropping my snowball and approaching her. Risa faces me with her hands raised and a dozen snowballs floating in midair.<p>

I smirk. "Have it your way."

**And that's how you finish a Risa story. Hoorah, reviews!**


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